George Hotz, aka geohot, has been arrested by Texas police on drugs charges while on his way to give a talk to the annual SXSW festival in Austin.
Hotz, who shot to fame when he was sued by Sony for cracking his PS3 gaming console, was arrested at a notorious police checkpoint in the West Texas town of Sierra Blanca, and found …

Re: $800?!!

Re: $800?!!

"they included the weight of the 'edibles' containing that extra 1/8 and came up with a value based on that total weight?"

Yes, that sounds right. Cops do that all the time, for example when weighing a plant they include the whole thing, roots, stem and all, even though roots and stem (a) account for the majority of the plants weight and (b) have no psychoactive chemicals.

That's what happens when cops are incentivized to hit target numbers for arrests, seizures etc, and when they are using millions of dollars worth of equipment intended for homeland security to catch some pure schmucks with a couple of joints.

Oh and yes I agree with whoever mentioned it above that it's extremely unlikely they specifically targeted Hotz, they'll screw over anyone who they can. Arseholes!

Thinks...

Re: Thinks...

All he has to do is go on an Acid fueled trip through India and then start Phreaking.

Then he's officially unveiled next to the iPad 5, which will have the exact same specs as the preceding three but another new radio which uses real 4G instead of this LTE hogwash and a higher resolution screen that has a biological marketing slogan, this time its the Cornea screen.

Then the lights in the hall will dim as the iClone takes the stage and his place in the Apple pantheon as the iResurrection, well upon the way to global dominance with his fruity mindless minions.

Hell, knowing Apple they'll transfer Saint Steve's experience, memories and consciousness into the iResurrection onstage at MacWorld. And yes, thats a patented product coming soon, which will fully integrate with iOS and the MacOS. And yes, the EULA states your consciousness and very soul belong to Apple as soon as you upload them.

Time to move to the Big Cypress with a truckload of very heavy weapons and optics. Robots and Mac users wont work well there.

Wrong.

You didn't RTFA.

>"Hotz has a medical marijuana license in California, where he lives, our source says. In the car’s glove box, Hotz apparently had 1/4 oz. of marijuana and chocolate edibles equivalent to less than 1/8 oz. of the drug.

>The border agents allegedly said they would turn Hotz over to the local sheriff and he would get a citation. Not a big deal, right? But our source explains the local sheriff took the whole weight of the chocolate as the proper measure (as if the candy were made entirely of pot). Law enforcement then valued the “special” chocolate truffles at $800, instead of the $15 our source says Hotz paid for it. "

Re: Wrong.

Ah, but the police are doing their job. Geohotz upset the rulers of the USA (the big corporates) and so must be repeatedly punished for this offence. The next time he is in California and lets one rip, he'll be done for air pollution.

Ridiculous nonsense

Re: Ridiculous nonsense

'Currently' that wouldn't happen in Holland...you've been reading the news though right, this crazy right wing government want this place to be renamed New Holland and be a State of the US, thats the only reason I can see them pushing the health care system and other things down the same path the US has taken. Private memebers clubs to get your pot will push it on the streets again and then police will start arresting.

Re: Ridiculous nonsense

Re: Ridiculous nonsense

I used to live in Amsterdam and really appreciated that the cops seemed to understand their role as keeping the peace. They weren't bothering people over minor matters, and could be real hard-asses when they really needed to (I remember a football riot by Ajax fans on Leidseplein being cleared up quickly, effectively and safely).

Same where I now live in Switzerland, where also from January this year in French-speaking cantons it's OK to grow up to 4 plants for personal use. The cops should just chill out and concentrate on serious crimes

Re: Texas 'Justice' - Not the Best Place to be Caught

Why hold SXSW in Texas in the first place?

If they don't "recognize" his medical MJ card from California, then the rest of the country shouldn't "recognize" his Texas felony. It's the United States, not "The United States and Texas", he shouldn't have the rest of his life ruined because one state doesn't recognize the laws of an other. I agree he should get a fine for having it in Texas, but a felony will follow him FOREVER.

They may have just pushed him into a downward spiral of crime. Don't be surprised if he goes from hacking PS3's and iPhones to hacking ATMs and credit card machines rather than only being able to work at McDonalds due to his felony.

Re: Texas 'Justice' - Not the Best Place to be Caught

They understand 'city folks' just fine -- and don't like them even a little bit, mostly, and it's hard to blame them unless either a) you're 'city folks' yourself, or b) you've got an agenda.

You do realize, don't you, that SXSW is in Austin, and that Austin is an enclave of East Coast progressivism in what is a very reactionary state? No one between Austin and Manhattan is going to be upset by this; on the contrary, ordinary Texans who have heard about it probably like it just fine.

He's lucky they didn't shoot him

Re: He's lucky they didn't shoot him

I'm sorry to burst your bubble but I think you're talking nonsense.

Outliers like him can be very bright but also difficult to understand to us "ordinary folk". I however have enough self confidence to admit that I can't quite match his intellect as repeatedly demonstrated by cracking all sorts of stuff.

So while he maybe quirky and not quite subscribing to all the norms "we" do this by no means diminishes his stature or makes him clueless. But then, looking at Turing's suffering and all the vitriol poured on him, it's not difficult to see where the attitude comes from.

Re: He's lucky they didn't shoot him

So you can tell all you need about a person from a single snapshot taken on a mobile in piss-poor lighting? You know what, you epitomize all I need to know about typical morons today who are obsessed by images who make snap judgements based on first impressions instead of getting to know or finding out more about a particular person!

Sheesh

Slightly off topic, but surely he was aware of this checkpoint? Hell, I live half-way up a frikkin`mountain in Southern Spain and I`m aware of it! There were two articles in the British press about this very checkpoint last week.

Bottom line, if you`re prepared to travel with a little bit of gear, knowing the long arm of the Texan lawman is going to go medieval on you, if stopped, then why bother with the risk in the first place? Surely you can score some puff at your destination and avoid all the shenanigans in the first place. Hell, there is probably an app for that!

Where I live, everyone smokes the good stuff and people give it away ( I kid you not), but I won`t travel in the car with any, as the Guardia Civil on the motorways are much more severe than the local plod in the villages. It`s simply common sense.

Young Mr. Hotz is probably the most intelligent person I have ever had the pleasure of talking too, and I speak too many very intelligent people. I learned a lot by being a sounding board for him (I'm sure he learned nothing from me, just wanted someone to bounce ideas off).

He probably didn't even think about the dope in the glove compartment, silly? Yes. A felony? Seems a bit harsh to me, but that's the good ol US of A for you.

He did, of course, make the conference and the audio (unfortunately no video ) of his talk is available.

Who cares?

I'm sorry, but Hotz should have known better given the fact every US citizen knows TX is not the place to screw around in .I see this way too often with people coming from out of state to visit Austin for whatever reason. Austin is not another part of California as mistakenly thought in the minds of college kids and it amazes me that SXSW is even held in TX to begin with. Say what you will about TX laws, but many califags have tried and failed miserably challenging the pot laws here in Christfukistan err Texas. Please, no tears for an idiot who can't be bothered to check the map and realize where hes at .